I bought two new Schwalbe Nobby Nics for my MTB. Then, of course I fitted the tyres using the direction arrows. So far so good. Then I fitted the wheels to the bike and checked everything over. Then I saw that the direction arrow on the rear wheel was pointing the wrong way. I looked at the other side and it was pointing the right way. WTF is going on?


Bike facing to the left - arrow points to the front (towards the brake)

Bike facing to the right - arrow points to the rear (away from the brake)

The front tyre is fine!!!!!

I would shoot an email to Schwalbe themselves as these type of things can bring plenty of inaccurate speculation.

Any reason why those tires are directional?

Chevron pattern tires are supposed to be directional with the chevron points forward, smooshing water, mud, etc out the back.

But, those waffle tires don't appear directional.

Just curious--are the sidewalls marked front or rear on them also. Maybe it's recommended to run front and rear in opposite directions?

When copy/paste goes wrong while using CAD equipment.

Possibly because of tread splice.

Bike pictures are always supposed to be taken from the drive side, according to some people. Just make sure the arrows are going in the right direction on that side. Reversing the arrow on the other side can then be taken as a gentle reminder to go to the other side of the bike before clicking.

Of tire rotation arrows could just be a response to OCD reviewers (if there's not an arrow, the tire manufacturer doesn't care enough to make sure you put the tire on the right direction).

Some people just can't work from home.

John

Perhaps the tires are made for a unicycle or trick bike that goes both forward and backwards.

probably unidirectional tires & this was their solution to telling the buyers. kinda dumb cuz they could have just not had any arrows. but maybe all their other tires have arrows so they figured yeah, do this

smart tire tech doing smart tire stuff.

Smart Sams are supposed to be set up this way, one way for the front, flipped for the back. It was pretty clearly marked as such on the tire.

Although these are two very different tires.

Edit, or not, I guess. Apparently they did have reversed rotation directions f/r, as well as problems with moulding and mixed up arrows. i guess that sort of screw up happens. Google. Add to this there is apparently a new tread design, so who knows. Consider it an invitation to figure out what works best for you?

I’m not too worried about this as it’s only my old cross country mtb, I can’t even do a bunny hop 😂 it’s just a funny thing but I’m also curious as to how this got through the manufacturing process. Weird thing is that the same tyre on the front is AOK.

This is exercising my brain. Is it possible to put this tyre on so that the arrow is pointing in the right direction on the drive side? 🤔

They are directional, you got to look carefully to see it though.


And this from Schwalbe’s web site about how they label front/rear direction arrows.

The tread should be fully vulcanized to the point where there isn't a forward/back distinction.

The casing does have a seam in it, but with overlapping layers that would reduce the significance of that seam.

Tread/casing separation does occur, but I'm not convinced there is a directional component.

I don't remember any discussion about casing separation at seams. Blowouts and tube herniation do occur, so perhaps that would give more information. Still, it doesn't seem like the seams are a major directional component.

There are many road tires that don't have those directional arrows.

ha!

Those tires are for fix gear use. Specifically, for "flip-flop" hubs. If both arrows pointed the same way, half the time the tire would be completely wrong. (And if you believe that, I've got a nice bridge to sell you.)

occams razor, they are installed flipped, I have done that so I know.

Take the tires off, and reverse them and re install so that with the cassette faceing you the direction is facing forward.

Don't know whether it's your joke or Schwalbe's, but that's the same photo twice.

I had some Mavic Yksion tires which were directional with the front tire installed the opposite way of the traditional direction. It could apply on these tires as well.

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